Tag: Japan

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, in Sapporo. The capital city of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido saw its first snowfall of the season early on Tuesday (Nov 20), which matches the latest date ever recorded in history. Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, quoting the Sapporo District Meteorological Observatory, reported on Tuesday that the date was 23 days later than the first snowfall in an average year. It was also 28 days later than last year’s. The last time snow first fell on Nov 20, marking the…

TOKYO: From January 2019, travellers leaving Japan will have to pay a departure tax of ¥1,000 (US$9.40), Japanese media reported on Wednesday (Apr 11). The Diet, or Parliament, has passed the legislation and the new levy, coined the “sayonara tax”, is scheduled to be implemented on Jan 7, 2019. Travellers, both Japanese and foreign, will be required to pay the tax when they leave Japan by plane or ship, effectively adding to airfares and ship fares. Children under the age of two and transit passengers leaving Japan within 24 hours of…

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc plans to reimburse from next week investors who lost digital money in the late-January theft of US$530 million, it said on Thursday in a statement. TOKYO: Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc plans to reimburse from next week investors who lost digital money in the late-January theft of US$530 million, it said on Thursday in a statement. The exchange also said it plans to resume services for some cryptocurrencies from next week. Coincheck froze all withdrawals of yen and cryptocurrencies following the heist, and resumed yen…

KYOTO – Japan and China have become locked in a subtle competition for increased influence in Southeast Asia. And Thailand has played a part in intensifying such competition. Seeking to cement ties with Japan and China to lessen the impact of Western sanctions, the Thai junta has allowed the two countries to exploit its political crisis for their national interests. Thailand has undoubtedly emerged as the region’s critical playground for the Sino-Japanese rivalry. Investments in mega-projects is one key area in which Japan and China have competed fiercely in Thailand. The…

KUALA LUMPUR – Japan is making an all-out bid to construct the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), touted as South-east Asia’s largest infrastructure project. In an interview with national news agency Bernama, Japan’s ambassador to Malaysia said the Japanese bid would be a comprehensive package based on Japan’s technological expertise in its renown bullet train system, the Shinkansen. The bid will include a total transfer of technology and local vendor development to greatly benefit Malaysian and Singaporean companies, including small and medium enterprises, said Mr Makio Miyagawa. “We will…

People praying at Hiroshima’s Memorial Cenotaph yesterday for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing. Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, which claimed 140,000 lives in Hiroshima.PHOTO: REUTERS TOKYO • Japan yesterday marked 72 years since the world’s first nuclear attack on Hiroshima, with the nation’s traditional contradictions over atomic weapons again coming into focus. The anniversary came after Japan sided last month with nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States to dismiss a United Nations treaty banning atomic weapons, which was rejected by critics…

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Marine MV-22B Osprey aircraft land on the deck of the USS Bonhomme Richard amphibious assault ship off Sydney MELBOURNE: The Australian government said on Sunday it would deploy its armed forces to assist in recovery efforts after the U.S. Marine Corps suspended a search for three Marines missing since their aircraft crashed off Australia’s northeast coast a day earlier. The Marine Corps said earlier they had shifted from a search-and-rescue effort to a recovery operation, which could last several months, and had notified the next-of-kin of the…

SYDNEY: An earthquake with an initial magnitude of 5.8 hit northeast of Tokyo off Japan’s main island of Honshu on Thursday (Jul 20), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and the USGS reported. The quake, which struck at 9.11am (8.11am, Singapore time), was measured at a depth of 33km about 79km east-northeast of Iwaki on Honshu. There was no immediate warning of a tsunami issued by the Hawaii-based PTWC Japan’s meteorological agency said there was no risk of tsunami from the earthquake. “We have found no (new) abnormality so far”…

SEOUL: North Korea fired what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile on Monday that landed in the sea off its east coast, the latest in a series of missile tests defying world pressure and threats of more sanctions. The missile was believed to be a Scud-class ballistic missile and flew about 450 km (280 miles), South Korean officials said. North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union. Monday’s launch follows two successful tests of medium to long range missiles in as…

SEOUL – North Korea on Sunday test-launched a ballistic missile that flew as far as 800 kilometeres before landing in the Sea of Japan, the South Korean, Japanese and US militaries said. The launch is a direct challenge to the new South Korean president elected four days ago and comes as US, Japanese and European militaries gather for joint war games in the Pacific. It wasn’t immediately clear what type of ballistic missile was launched, although the US Pacific Command said that “the flight is not consistent with an intercontinental…